Governor of Maryland, January 17, 1979 to January 21, 1987. Chair, Board of Public Works, 1979-87.
Chair, Emergency Resources Priorities Board, 1979-81; State Commission on the Capitol City, 1979-87; Maryland Council on the Economy, Environment, and Energy Production, 1979-87; Board of Trustees, Maryland Environmental Trust, 1979-87; Maryland Highway Safety Coordinating Committee, 1979-87; State House Trust, 1979-87; Maryland Veterans Home Commission, 1979-87. Member, Appalachian Regional Commission, 1979-87. Board of Trustees, Maryland Historical Trust, 1979-87. Member, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, 1979-87; Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 1979-87; Interstate Oil Compact Commission, 1979-87; Interstate Mining Commission, 1979-87; Maryland Education Council, 1979-87; Southern Regional Education Board, 1979-87.
Member, Senate, representing Caroline County and District 15 (Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's & Talbot counties), 1959-70. Majority Leader, 1965-70. Member, Aviation, Roads and Transportation Committee, 1959-62; Elections Committee, 1959-62 (vice-chair, 1961-62); Public Buildings Committee, 1959-62 (vice-chair, 1961-62); Maryland Intergovernmental Cooperation Commission, 1959-64, 1967-70; Legislative Council, 1961, 1965-70. Chair, Committee on Taxation and Fiscal Matters, 1962-64 (member, 1962-65). Chair, Executive Nominations Committee, 1963-64. Vice-Chair, Education Committee 1963-64. Chair, Special Legislative Committee on State-Local Fiscal Relations, 1965. Member, Rules Committee, 1965-68 (vice-chair, 1968-70). Chair, Finance Committee, 1965-70 (member, 1959-62; vice-chair, 1963-64). Member, Joint Committee on Organization and Procedure, 1966. Chair, Joint Legislative-Executive Committee to Study Taxation and Fiscal Problems, 1967. Chair, Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 1968-69. Chair, Joint Budget and Audit Committee, 1968-70.
Member, Committee on More Equitable Representation in the General Assembly, 1959; Governor's Commission on City-County Fiscal Relationships, 1959-63; Governor's Commission to Study Reapportionment, 1962; Commission to Study Changes and Basis of Selection for Patuxent Institution, 1964. Chair, Governor's Committee on Taxation and Fiscal Reform, 1966-67. Chair, Taxation and Fiscal Reform Problems Study Commission, 1967. Chair Legislative Liaison Committee for the Constitutional Convention, 1967.
Secretary of Transportation, April 1, 1971 to May 26, 1977. Resigned May 26, 1977. Member, Governor's Executive Council, 1970-77. Chair, Maryland Transportation Authority, 1970-77. Member, Maryland Highway Safety Coordinating Committee, 1970-77; Regional Planning Council, 1970-77; Friendship International Airport Authority, 1970-77; Washington Suburban Transit Commission, 1970-77; Emergency Resource Priorities Board, 1970-77. Member, Chesapeake Bay Interagency Committee, c. 1973. Chair, State Aviation System Plan Policy Committee, 1973. Member, Commission to Review Maryland's Procedures for Awarding Noncompetitive State Contracts, 1973.
Member, Chesapeake Bay Trust, 1995-2003. Presidential Elector, Maryland, 1996. Board of Regents, University System of Maryland, 1996-2000. Chair, Blue Ribbon Citizens Pfiesteria Commission, 1997. Chair, Maryland Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission, 1999-2003.
Member, Committee to Establish the Maryland Survivors Scholarship Fund, 2001-02; Governor-elect's Transition Team, 2006-07. Co-Chair, Attorney General's Environmental Advisory Council, 2007-13.
Born in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland, November 13, 1926. Attended Caroline County public schools; Caroline High School, Denton, Maryland; Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Served in U.S. Navy Air Corps, World War II (Navy V-5 & aviation cadet training). Attended Mount St. Mary's College; University of Maryland, B.S., 1949; George Washington University School of Law, LL.B., 1952. Admitted to Maryland Bar, 1952. Attorney. Member, American Bar Association; Maryland State Bar Association; Caroline County Bar Association. Chair, Democratic State Central Committee, 1966-70. Delegate, Democratic Party National Convention, 1996. President, Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc., 1999-2018 (executive committee; president emeritus, 2018-19). Member, Maryland Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee, Inc., 2005-09. Chair, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. Founding member, Maryland Families for Stem Cell Research. Member, Rotary; American Legion. Author, My Unexpected Journey: The Autobiography of Gov. Harry Roe Hughes (2006). ARTBA Award, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, 1980. Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, George Washington University, 1981. Alumni Hall of Fame, University of Maryland, 2005. Profile in Stewardship Award, Scenic Rivers Land Trust, 2007. John V. Kabler Award, Maryland League of Conservation Voters, 2007. H. Vernon Eney Endowment Fund Award, Maryland Bar Foundation, 2013. Smart Growth Hero, 1000 Friends of Maryland, 2014. Married to the former Patricia Donoho, who died January 20, 2010; two daughters, one grandson, three great-grandchildren. Died in Denton, Maryland, March 13, 2019.
The Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc., in Queenstown, Maryland, an affiliate of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park, also was named for Governor Hughes on November 13, 2006.
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